Anyone here use something besides Photoshop to digi scrap?

S

Scrapper007

New member
I have only been digital scrapping for a couple of weeks. I downloaded the trial version of Photoshop 8 but honestly, I am frustrated by it. Not only am I having a hard time learning how to use it, but it sometimes freezes my computer and occasionally shuts it down completely! :unsure:

I bought Memory Mixer Lite last week and I LOVE it. It is VERY user-friendly and does everything that I want it to do. There ARE a few drawbacks though. I cannot use PSD files (obviously) and there are a lot of them out there that I love (frames, templates, etc.) You can't see the entire layout as you're working on it..you have to scroll a little bit up or down to see the entire page which is kind of a pain. But other than that, I have no complaints. It is so easy to use....I have been cranking out the pages!!

I am just wondering for those of you that don't use Photoshop, what do you use and how do you like it?
 
Lots of people use Memory Mixer, it's probably the most popular of the non-Photoshop/non-PrintShopPro programs out there for digital scrapbooking. You should be able to use .png files...which most elements are done with (when you mentioned frames, I thought that seemed odd).

Templates are really about the only thing that uses .psd, and there are a few template makers out there who do .png+ verisons of their templates if you want to go off in search of them.

You should look into PrintShopPro to see if you have the same memory/ram issues as you did with PSE. It's used by a lot of our members and well loved!
 
I've been exactly where you are, as I'm sure the majority of us who use Photoshop/Elements have been at one time or another. I remember crying I was so mad and frustrated over Elements....and I literally wanted to put my fist through the laptop screen. Rather than give up, I just pressed on and learned little by little.

I just wanted to say this because you may be frustrated now and ready to give up, you will be so much happier in the future if you give it some time and try to learn it. Ask lots of questions, as there are always lots of us that can help you!!!

Good luck!
Kristen
 
what Nikki said....except I started 4+ years ago, started with Paint Shop 8, and am now using pspx3. It is much more intuitive to me than PS! (and the more recent versions do open PSDs :) )
 
I started out on the Gimp - it's free, open source software. There are a lot more tutorials and support for it now than when I started. I recommend it :)
 
I started with Elements 6 (now in 8). I agree with the learning curve. I was frustrated at first but found lots of tutorials online that helped me get through the beginning stages. I also bought a video tutorial set that helped me A TON. Seriously......it was worth every penny! I am so glad that I powered through the learning curve because like you said.......lots of designers cater to PS users. Here is the links to the tutorials that I purchased.....hopefully that will help you.

Tutorials

There is also another set of tutorials to get once you mastered the basics and it is found here
 
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I use Paint Shop Pro XI. never upgraded and it is really good. I can do pretty much anything I could with Photoshop except use actions but PSP has scripts so kinda the same thing. Anyhow PSP might work for you and to me is alot more user friendly. You could try it. Also some people use GIMP... I think that is what its called. Its free I believe. I tried it and did not like it
 
I HAD memory mixer several years ago but it kept freezing up on me so it's collecting dust in the basement now..somewhere. I started with PSE..can't remember which one...upgraded within a few weeks to CS2 and now use CS4. I have no experience with any other softward out there.
 
I use Memory Mixer 3 and I LOVE it! The only real disappointment is not being able to use the cool templates at the Sweet Shoppe. Otherwise it is very easy to use and you really can get a lot of pages done quickly.

I'm not sure how Memory Mixer Lite works but I know in version3 one thing I can do is create a photo box. If I drop my paper (background or accent) into that box the software will automatically resize the design. That way if I need the paper design to be little, it automatically is. I hope this makes sense.

Another reason I like version 3 is that I'm able to create "hot spots" to include digital home video. So let's say I'm making a page about when we made homemade pizzas. I can create the whole page and then create a video hot spot where I can include a video of the kids throwing the dough up in the air. This feature is what sold me on the software in the first place. They keep making it better and better with each version.

I'm sort of curious about why you are having to scroll to see your whole page because I can always see my whole page no matter what shape I use (square, portrait or landscape). If you want to send me a PM I can try to see if I can help you.
 
Gimp can read PSDs. Then you could resave them as a TIFF or a PNG and use Memory Mixer for making layouts :)
 
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LenaBrandenburg said:
what Nikki said....except I started 4+ years ago, started with Paint Shop 8, and am now using pspx3. It is much more intuitive to me than PS! (and the more recent versions do open PSDs :) )
Click to expand...

LOL I Don't agree with that. PSP makes NO sense to me. I truly believe that PS vs. PSP is like right brain vs. left brain...two different interfaces for two different brain types.
 
Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements are the two pieces of software I recommend to my students who are beginners but want to really get into digital scrapbooking. They are both very powerful programs but very user friendly also.
 
I have Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 as well, and I love it! A friend gave it to me as a gift, and I love love love using it.
I sometimes want to save up for photoshop, but mostly I just enjoy PSP :)
 
I have PSPX2. I've been using PSP since version 5. It was the photo editing software we used at work. I love it. I have CS3 but I find it frustrating. Especially getting the windows to resize with zoom. There are just little things that are different with the two programs that, if you are really comfortable with one, makes teh other frustrating.
 
I own PaintShop Pro, PhotoShop Elements and full verions Photoshop, I use PSP. Its very user friendly.
 
I've always been a photoshop girl. Started back at PS2 and moved on, now am a Ps Cs3/5 girl. (I've been playing with the trial of CS5 and have a love hate relationship with it.)
 
kbbeale said:
I've been exactly where you are, as I'm sure the majority of us who use Photoshop/Elements have been at one time or another. I remember crying I was so mad and frustrated over Elements....and I literally wanted to put my fist through the laptop screen. Rather than give up, I just pressed on and learned little by little.
Click to expand...

I'm with you, Kristen. I'd been using Corel Draw/Photopaint for years and recently switched over to CS4. It was quite a step, and I still think that Photoshop in some ways is a lot more complicated than other programs. But as others have said already, it's very powerful (and personally I started using it, b/c my Corel version couldn't read all the fonts, weird). Honestly though, with Photoshop it's mostly knowing about the keyboard shortcuts, etc. If you figure the most basic ones out, your life will become a lot easier. (Fortunately my sister studies Adobe in university and whenever I get stuck, she's just a phone call away, lol!) After all, I do recommend Photoshop, too.
 
I use PSP X2-but am about ready to upgrade to X3...I started with version 9 and am very loyal-I even have a full version of PS in the box...never opened...haha!
 
I have been a hard CORE(L) girl since 1998. I also created my first layouts in Corel Photo Paint X4 and it can do pretty well :)

I had troubles getting used to Photoshop as those two are totally different, but finally we found a way together :)

I have also Paint Shop Pro X2, but I use it only for photo adjusting...
 
I use Digital Scrapbook Artist...it is specifically tailored toward digital scrapbooking and incredibly easy to use. In the end I chose it because of a couple of cool features (love the scissors and stencil tools). There are a couple of shortcomings, the biggest of which is that it doesn't read PSD files (I either download templates that come with separate pngs or open them in gimp separate them into pngs and then import them into DSA so this can be time consuming...i know that I've seen a couple of template designers that create layered templates specifically for the program, but i've never looked at their templates). There's a free dumbed down version to try (no digikit creator, and I think you can only use a few preset drop shadow effects as opposed to doing your own..and a few other missing things) but it'll give you an idea of how the program works. There are also tons of tutorials out there to help you get the hang of how to use the program also. One of the biggest advantages to using DSA imo is that you never have to worry about accidentally messing up your orig photo or digi item since your never actually editing the orig file. I tend to get excited and forget to rename files before messing with them..lol. Didn't mean for this post to be so long :blink:. Hope you find something that works for you.
 
I was too cheap to buy Photoshop and had been told by a few pro photographers I know that it would house a lot of unnecessary features for what I wanted to use it for so I went for PSE8. It's all I've ever used and I really had no trouble learning. If I had a question this forum was just as useful (if not more so) than looking it up :)

But like everyone else has said; just find what works for you and stick with it, no matter what it's called.
 
I started as a paper scrapper, but was always hopelessly behind on the layouts and stories I wanted to capture. And, with two small kiddos at home, I realized that would always be the case unless something changed! Last year, I purchased Photoshop Elements (for Windows) and also purchased a few online courses to help learn the software... Of course, I never seem to have enough time in the day so the courses are still as of yet unfinished... And NOW I think my desktop is on its last legs, so that poor, powerful software may NEVER get used (I upgraded to a Mac). What a waste!

However, I will say that I LOVE my Mac (even with the learning curve on the switch from a PC). iPhoto is also a pretty cool photo editing program! And, as far as digi-scrapping, I am now using Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio program. I really love it, though I don't think there is a way to use any of the fantastic templates or quick pages that are out there. I can use other jpeg elements, though.
 
Gimp girl. Have always used it. I now own photoshop, but I know GIMP, so that's still what I use. Love it love it love it.
 
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